Where is your Heaven on earth?

This post has been on my mind for over a month now. I think maybe it's being written in October because this month seems to be a difficult one for many folks. I know in my family  we've lost 4 or 5 family members over the years in October. For many it's a reminder that cold and snow is coming. So I  think maybe now is the time for me to write about Heaven on Earth. I've had a few things happen that were reminders that we can have or find Heaven on Earth in a lot of different places.

Heaven on Earth is someplace where you feel peaceful and happy. This place doesn't have to be super quiet to be peaceful and t doesn't have to be calm. I really dislike grocery shopping. From beginning (menu/list making) to end  (putting groceries away) it's easily 3-3 1/2 hours. I always hope to have planned it perfectly and see my kids walking home from school as I pull in the driveway.  One day last month I took a picture of lunch I bought at the store and sent it to my brother. The text was,  "Sushi and Mtn Dew after grocery shopping! Heaven can even be in a Kroger parking lot!" So true!  I listened to a radio station the kids don't love as I ate my sushi and enjoyed a soda...all by myself. It really was a little bit like Heaven on Earth. 

 These blocks are in our family room. I completely believe anyone's home can be a Heaven on Earth. We have unwritten home rules that the kids just know to follow--even their friends.  Our home is a "safe house" meaning no one gets ganged up on or talked about and gossip isn't shared about school friends.  I think having these things be in place does make it a heaven on earth. I'm not saying it's a Heaven on earth all the time but there are lots of moments that I think "It doesn't get much better than this." Those are the times the house is filled with laughter, lots of commotion, happy chatter, music and love. Quite often my Heaven in our home is around the dining room table. We eat dinner there, coordinate our weekly calendar, play games and nightly homework sessions happen at the table and quite often it's turned into someone's "office" for problems to be solved or fun surprise planned.. 

Our dining room table was being thrown away by a neighbor one thanksgiving weekend. Jim and his brother ran over and pulled it from the trash. Jim then sanded and refinished the top. I love this table! I love the story behind it and the labor of love it was for Jim to make it look great for our family.  

A few years ago we took the kids to the ocean for the first time. Seeing their faces when they heard the waves crashing before they could see was the best part of the trip for me. We spent five great fun and sun filled days playing at the beach and in the ocean. We returned home just a few days before school started and Hunter, then 13, was assigned to write an essay about his favorite place on earth and tell why it was his favorite place. Knowing how much fun he had at the ocean, I was certain that this would be his place. He surprised me by writing about the soccer field. When he's on the field he said his mind is clear and he's "just plain happy." He smiles more often than not when he's playing soccer or even at a practice; which makes it even more fun to cheer when you see his happy face from the stands. 

 Where is your Heaven on Earth? It doesn't have to be just one, it doesn't have to be amazing to everyone, it doesn't even have to make sense to anyone else. I mean, really...how many people think a grocery store parking lot is a little bit of Heaven on Earth? I'd love to read about where you find  Heaven on Earth.